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Oct 26, 2008

Former ATP top 100 Federico Luzzi passes away at 28

Federico Luzzi, a former ATP top 100 tennis player, has died of leukemia. He was 28.

Luzzi died at a hospital in Arezzo, the Italian Tennis Federation said Saturday.

He had been there for a few days after retiring last weekend from an Italian league match citing a high fever.

Luzzi reached a career-high ranking of No. 92 in 2002 before a shoulder injury that affected him the rest of his career.

He had a 2-2 record with Italy’s Davis Cup team.

In 2001, Luzzi beat Ville Liukko of Finland 14-12 in the fifth set after 4 hours, 35 minutes—the longest Davis Cup match ever played by an Italian.

In February, Luzzi was suspended for 200 days and fined $50,000 by the ATP for betting on tennis.

Luzzi is survived by his parents, Paola and Maurizio, and his sister, Francesca.

Updates:World no. 1 Rafael Nadal paid tribute to Luzzi:

I’d like to take a minute to send my condolences and a big hug to the family of Federico Luzzi. He will be buried today after passing away 2 days ago.

To me, it was quite difficult to believe the news, I knew it wasn’t a joke but at the same time I didn’t want to believe it was true. I got to train with Federico a few times and I remember him as a great person, fun to be with and very Italian.

All of us who are here in Paris have been talking about it and all of us are in shock and very upset.